THREE DOLLARS
-AARON ROY ISAAC-

Details
MA Ratings 5.4/10
119 minutes running time
Country: Australia
Language: English
Color: Color
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Certification: Australia:M (Low level coarse language, low level sex scenes, adult themes)

Cast & Crew
Directed by
Robert Connolly

Writing credits
Elliot Perlman (novel)

David Wenham       Eddie Harnovey
Frances O'Connor  Tanya Harnovey
Sarah Wynter          Amanda
Robert Menzies      Nick
David Roberts         Gerard
Nicole Nabout          Kate
Joanna Hunt-Prokhovnik   Abby Harnovey

Produced by
Lyndi Adler      associate producer 
Elisa Argenzio    line producer 
Dominique Green   executive producer 
John Maynard    producer 
Andrew Myer   executive producer 
 
Original Music by
Alan John   
 
Cinematography by
Tristan Milani   
 

Film Editing by
Nick Meyers   
 
Casting by
Jane Norris   
 
Production Design by
Luigi Pittorino   
 
Art Direction by
Janie Parker   
 
Costume Design by
Sandi Cichello   
 
Production Management
Naomi Wenck   post-production supervisor 
 

RELEASE DATES

This movie was release on the 21st April 2005 in Australia, quite recent movie and does not state its other release dates in other countries.

Production

Three Dollars were produced by Dendy Films/Footprint Films release of a Film Finance Corp. An Australia presentation of Arena film production, in association with Showtime Australia, Fandango.

Online Presences

The online presence on the internet, shows not many critic reviews, it maybe the case because it is a recent movie which were release not long ago 21st April 2005. However, I have still found a wide range of review’s on the internet from the different search engine’s that were used such as Google and Yahoo. Moreover, Three dollar feature film has its own web page http://www.threedollars.net/  which is pretty much useful to provide information of this feature film. Information which I have gained on this recent feature film were mostly from Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).  It were very much possible to obtain information on the internet, the reason being it is a recent film. Although, it was not easy to choose the important data to be put into this review because of its numerous data on the internet.

Internet Reviews

Interviews

In this research, I have found a few interviews on Three Dollars film. David Stratton talks to David Wenham, Robert Connolly and Elliot Perlman, the Actor, Director and Writer of THREE DOLLARS, of how is was created and filmed.

The site that I have found was from http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s1348699.htm which run’s along an interviewed by David Stratton. This interview speaks of, how this movie was inspired and made, following by a book written by Elliot Perlman. When asked on the response of Three Dollar feature film:

“The public's response to the film has been nothing short of remarkable”. "We've never had as many people writing to us - emails, letters, after they've seen the film than on any other film (and) I've been here for ten years. People are finding the film a few days down the track when they reflect on their own life. People write and say you know I had an experience when I was five or you know I'm a father...We found it quite amazing."

I have also found another interview done by Luke Buckmaster, which kind of covers some important question of it was created. http://www.infilm.com.au/features/robert_connolly/

Cast and Crew
Robert Connolly: This is Connolly’s 3rd movie producing, he has produce the monkey mask (2000), the Boys (1998) and All men are Liars(1995)

Elliot Perlman: This is Perlman first screenplay and the writer of Three Dollars.

David Wenham:  his iconic performance in local gangster flick Getting Square (2003), playing Johnny Spiteri, the distressed-denim wearing, school-of-hard-knocks loser with a spectacular mullet

Sarah Wynter: Sarah was raised in perth, Australia and now considerMelborune her home, she has done a number movies and series.

Robert Menzies: Menzies is a former grandson of Australian Prime minister, he has also acted a number of movies such as Under the Radar(2004), Horseplay(2003) and Floodhouse(2003)

David Roberts: Roberts have been in numerous number of movies for an example Small Claims(2004), the Matrix Revolution(2003) and Gettin Square(2003)

Nicole Nabout : Nabout has been in the Brush off(2004), and  Home and Alone(1988)

Joanna Hunt-Prokhovnik: This Joanna’s first movie in acting

Research
In this research, I have used the Internet as my primary research tool. The information I found on Three Dollars was discovered on the internet by using a variety of search engines such as Yahoo and Google. i also took advantage of the H231 Website and its links to get to loads of helpful media databases.

Synopsis

Based on Elliot Perlman's award-winning novel, THREE DOLLARS tells the story of an honest, compassionate man who finds himself, at the age of 38, with a wife, a child and three dollars. Based on Melbourne writer Elliot Perlman's highly praised novel, Three Dollars tells the story of Eddie (David Wenham), a chemical engineer going through the typical dramas of the middle class. He has a mortgage, a young daughter, an annoying boss and a depressed wife. Perlman may have been lauded for his novel portraying a middle class family struggling to resolve moral and economic imperatives, but in this film Three Dollars lacks narrative drive. Eddie's life begins to spiral out of control when he discovers a project he has been asked to approve, a new residential development, is to be built on possibly contaminated land. Eddie is seen to be under pressure from management to ignore the potential dangers, because the developer is one of Melbourne's most powerful men.
Furthermore, Eddie's wife Tanya (Frances O'Connor) falls into a deep depression, her friend separates from her husband and comes to stay, and his daughter is diagnosed with epilepsy. Three Dollars had the potential to be this year's Lantana an intelligent drama with strong performances that raised the bar for local productions. It is intelligent and the performances from Wenham and O'Connor are excellent, but it's a shame to say the film is let down by its languid pace. It runs for two hours, but feels at least 20 minutes overstretched.
This flaw damages what is otherwise a solid, enjoyable feature and one wonders, in retrospect, why a number of fairly irrelevant scenes weren't simply cut to improve the pace. The film is also let down by its unrealistic climax, which sits uncomfortably with the mostly down to earth. Three Dollars is a cut above most recent locally-made films and it has many great moments it's just that the gaps between them are large.
In accordance to Australianness, in this film, Three Dollars urge to portray a simplistic personality who just basically lives in a middle class society. These gives the viewers an idea of a middle class society and are able to reflect on them themselves through this feature film and simply being an Australian.
It was apparent to me after viewing, this film, that what captivated most of my attention was the excellent cinematography, dialogue and its storyboard. In  the beginning of the seen/film when Eddie (David Wenham) were packing up his desk and, escorted by a security guard, marched from the building. We see him sitting at the railway station waiting for a train home, trying unsuccessfully to suppress his fears and his tears.  After an hour we arrive back at the same scene, which Connolly unaccountably repeats without adding any extra meaning or significance. During that hour we are introduced to his chocolate box family and get the bones of the reasons for his unseemly and hasty departure from his place of work.

Review
It can be said that no doubt that, the Australian film industry is in crisis. Recent films such as Hating Alison Ashley, The Illustrated Family Doctor and Somersault have promised and shown much but delivered far too little undersanding. The enthusiastic critical reception of Robert Connolly’s new film Three Dollars is indicative of just how desperate Australianness  have become to find something good to say about our increasingly third rate industry.
Three Dollars is an adaptation of an apparently successful and highly acclaimed novel by Elliot Perlman, who adapted it for the screen with director Connolly. Furthermore, I have not read the novel but can only imagine that either the praise for it is severely misplaced or none of its virtues have translated to film. Is this yet another case of the heart of a novel entirely left out of the film version? I find it hard to believe that a story of such mind numbing predictability as this could jump towards the slightest interest Australians.

Critical Uptakes